New Jersey antiques stores: Golden Bee Antiques, Westfield

Golden Bee Antiques at 141A Broad St., Westfield Golden Bee Antiques

Pat Vivinetto didn't come into the antiques business with the passion of an avid collector of old things. In fact, she says she knew nothing about antiques.

"I had not even thought about them," she says of the days before she became owner of Golden Bee Antiques in Westfield.

That changed 13 years ago when two husbands, one of whom was hers,  decided their wives should go into the antiques business together.  And so they leased the 1,700-square-foot store at 141A East Broad St.

"My husband and her husband were the best of friends," Vivinetto says. But she had only met her new business partner a few times. "She was very into antiques and she collected everything." That meant a two-car garage full of goods. "He wanted to put his car in the garage, so they began to look for a store that she could put her stuff in so he could use the garage," Vivinetto said.

While her partner was very good at buying and decorating, Vivinetto brought along years of retail experience, having managed the former Etienne Aigner outlet store in Edison. In addition to working with customers and handling the business side of the antiques store, Vivinetto also would reseach the items her partner bought. "That's how I learned as much as I learned," Vivinetto says.  "I was working at the store during the day, and I'd go home and do reseach at night."

Vivinetto's partner, whom she preferred not to name, moved away from the area, and so Vivinetto has owned and operated the store for the past 10 years.  She has learned to trust her instincts when buying attractive but unfamiliar pieces. "A lot of dealers do that, and then you find out later what it is," she explains. 

Rambo, a chihuahau-pomeranian mix, does double duty as store mascot and guard dog -- all for the price of a few canine cookies.
Like the novice, dealers sometimes don't know if they are paying a fair price for a desired piece. "It's a gamble," Vivinetto says. "What you do when somebody brings you something, or you go to an estate sale is you pay the price that they are asking and you hope you made the right choice," she says. "Sometimes you don't. But when you do, you feel like you're a baseball player and you've just hit a home run. You learn something about yourself that you never knew -- that your instincts were right."

Vivinetto says she enjoys glass pieces and buys them frequently, but she has a method for keeping her personal acquisitions in check. "I collect odd wine glasses because every time somebody brings in a set, it's 9, 11 or 7. So, I take the odd one home when I buy the set." She explains: "If it's not an even number people won't buy it, but if you tell them there's a set of 8, they 're happy with that."

How does she get past the desire to keep every pretty thing she buys? "I get to live with the stuff for awhile and then sell it to somebody else who is going to love it, so it helps me get past that."

Beyond the Westfield store, Vivinetto has an eBay store where she showcases and sells pieces that would benefit from additional exposure online. "I put special things on the store site," she says.

Golden Bee Antiques also offers an assortment of collectibles, jewelry, and vintage clothing.

For those who worry about how some appealing object will fit in with what they already own, Vivinetto recites the familiar advice to buy what you love. "If it appeals to you, buy it," she advises. "You are going to be happy even if all you do is sit and look at it."

Dealer's tips: "If you have a table or a buffet server, you can put an adorable little chair on top of it. Then you put something under the chair and put things on it. I do that a lot at the store because I'm trying to make room for more stuff. You can do it with a child's chair. It depends on how big your table is."

"Look at what you have around your house and use it differently. Sometimes you don't even have to go out and buy anything else."

On learning more: "You have the internet, which is something we didn't have when we first started.  The internet is a great tool, but if you are going to use it, use it widely. Don't just go to eBay and see what they are asking. It's not what they are asking for it, but what it sells for. You have to be realistic."

"When it comes to certain things, you have to beware of reproductions. Two are cast iron banks and depression glass. If you don't know what you are buying, you can get stuck. And that happens to everybody, but you have to move on and let it go. "

Visit the store: Golden Bee Antiques. 141A Broad St., Westfield (the front of the store is across the parking lot from Trader Joe's). Open Wednesday - Friday 10:30 a.m. to  6 p.m.; Thursday until 8 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday noon to 4 p.m. (908) 654-6824

More New Jersey Antiques: Winterhill Antiques, Scotch Plains